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T O P I C R E V I E W

Robert Pearlman

Prior to the STS-132 crew launching, in response to a question that collectSPACE asked about the mission being the final planned flight for space shuttle Atlantis, commander Ken Ham replied:

We figured that question was coming and we've come up with a tag line for you, 'This is the first last flight of Atlantis.'

Now back on Earth, their mission a success, it appears that that same tag line will forever be a part of Atlantis.

Central Florida News 13 reports that an STS-132 mission decal was found during a post-flight inspection of the orbiter accompanied by an inscription, "The first, last flight of Atlantis left Earth on 14 May 2010 from Pad 39A" together with the crew's signatures.

NASA confirms it was found by a United Space Alliance inspector going over the orbiter in standard post flight operations after the shuttle landed.

Credit: United Space Alliance/Central Florida News 13

News 13 spoke to the worker who took the picture, who wants to remain anonymous.

He told News 13 he found it tucked away on the upper side of Locker A-16 while scanning the area with a mirror.

He said the note must have been written on orbit. Otherwise, the astronauts would have had to stand on their heads.

The crew's secret sign-off evokes another spacecraft inscription from 40 years ago. From the Smithsonian Books' After Sputnik:

Following splashdown, while en route to Hawaii on the USS Hornet, Michael Collins crawled back into the command module (it was connected to the mobile quarantine facility by an air-tight tunnel) and wrote a short note on one of the equipment bay panels.